Where does the law give mothers the longest paid leave?
Czechia leads on paid leave for mothers at 896 days; India is last of the 15 shown at 182 days.
Parental leave is the benefit that most changes what a salary is worth to a household, and it varies by a factor of five across the countries on this site. This ranks the paid leave the law makes available to mothers, in calendar days, with the paternity entitlement shown beside each.
The figures are what the statute provides, not what people take, and a scheme can be partly paid: World Bank scores each provision 0-1 and a score below 1 marks a partial one. Who pays — the government, the employer, or both — is reported by the tool rather than folded into the days.
Statutory minimum annual leave is not part of this ranking. No structured source publishes it, so the site hand-curates it from labour authorities on the Rules hub's employment tab, with the page and check date per country — never from a vendor's blog.
| # | Country | Paid leave for mothers | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇨🇿 Czechia | 896 days | fathers 14 days |
| 2 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 635 days | fathers 385 days |
| 3 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 458 days | fathers 60 days |
| 4 | 🇭🇺 Hungary | 453 days | fathers 74 days |
| 5 | 🇵🇱 Poland | 427 days | fathers 77 days |
| 6 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 407 days | fathers 393 days |
| 7 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 390 days | fathers 104 days |
| 8 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 350 days | fathers 35 days |
| 9 | 🇮🇹 Italy | 330 days | fathers 104 days |
| 10 | 🇫🇷 France | 292 days | fathers 205 days |
| 11 | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 273 days | fathers 14 days |
| 12 | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 245 days | fathers 77 days |
| 13 | 🇳🇴 Norway | 238 days | fathers 105 days |
| 14 | 🇨🇱 Chile | 210 days | fathers 7 days |
| 15 | 🇮🇳 India | 182 days | fathers 0 days |
How this is worked out: Length of paid leave available to mothers (Par_Law_MatLeave_Total) from the Parenthood topic of World Bank Women, Business and the Law 2026, calendar days, most first, across the 41-country spine. Fathers' leave (Par_Law_PatLeave_Total) is shown as context and does not affect the order. Estimates for comparison, not advice.
Check your own numbers
A ranking is a starting point, not an answer — your income, household and destination change the order. The Working hours & parental leave runs the same engine against your own figures, and every country above links to its own page.